Length of stay in hospital

Length of stay for selected medical conditions

Cellulitis is a bacterial infection of the skin and underlying tissue, which is usually treated with antibiotics. The data presented here relate to patients who stayed one or more nights for cellulitis without complications.

Cellulitis: average length of stay

In all years reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Year

Number of overnight stays

Average length of stay

Peer group average

Total overnight patient bed days

NP Reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a progressive lung disease characterised by narrowing of the airways and reduced lung volume. This condition is commonly caused by smoking or other lung irritants, and includes diagnoses such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The data presented here relate to patients who stayed one or more nights for COPD without and with complications.

Heart failure is a chronic heart condition that occurs when the heart is unable to provide sufficient pressure to maintain blood flow around the body. It includes cardiac shock, which occurs when blood flow to vital organs is inadequate for normal function. The data presented here relate to patients who stayed one or more nights for heart failure without and with complications.

Heart failure (without complications): average length of stay

In all years reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Year

Number of overnight stays

Average length of stay

Peer group average

Total overnight patient bed days

NP Reported data did not meet the criteria to calculate this indicator.

Kidney and urinary tract infections occur frequently but can occasionally be severe enough to require treatment in hospital. The data presented here relate to those patients who stayed one or more nights for kidney and urinary tract infections without and with complications.

Average length of stay

Average length of stay

Data source

About the measure

The average (mean) bed days for overnight stays at a public hospital for a given Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Group (AR-DRG) version 6.0x.

Calculating the measure

‘Number of overnight stays’ refers to the number of stays that begin and end on different dates. A stay in hospital may be a complete hospital stay (to discharge, transfer, or death), or a part of the stay if there was a change of care type (for example from acute care to rehabilitation).

‘Total overnight patient bed days’ refers to the sum of the days from the beginning to the end of the stay, for overnight stays.

The average length of stay is calculated as the number of patient bed days for overnight stays divided by the number of overnight stays. The calculation excludes people who were transferred to another health care facility within two days, and people who died in hospital.

Only data which met certain criteria are included in the calculation. The criteria for calculating and presenting results are:

Stays for acute care

Stays that begin and end on different dates

50 or more overnight stays in the category (in the denominator)

After all the above rules were applied, a small number of exceptionally long stays were excluded as outliers, using this formula: